Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1887-04-07

! Turkish diGnitarleS that the GREEKS
| maintain the pre-eminent position they
there enjoy. And even the most fanat-
| zeal old-school Turk, who may curse
with bated breath the very existence or
the giaour, can not get along without
his adroit, smooth1spoken Greek secre-
| tary, dragoman, pipe-bearer. or b-dy
servant. These Leyantine or Byzant-
! inc Greeks must not be COMPOUNDED
with their cousins OF Greece proper,
with whom they have hardly any thing
| in common save consanguinity and
language. While the real Greeks have,
during the past sixty years, repeatedly
proved to the world that valor and
love of independence are not dead
within them. those Hellenes of Turkey
are above all noted for total lack OF
independence and bravery. They are
utterly unconscious of their own deg
radiation, and will readily kiss the hand
| that smites them. With all that, it 10
| curious to note that the old names OF
Greek history revive in those degen-
crate scions of mongrel blood. Many
newer of wood in ConstantinOple
answers 20 the name OF Aristides: many
great hanger-on TO a MOsleIn Pasha
is Leonidas in name. In fact, it is
pretty safe for any one 60 call a Greek
| servant either Aristides or Leonidas il
| he does not know his name. Ten
| chances to one that it is one OF the two
| And it is an almost inyariable rule for
the lower class Greeks in the Levant TO
give their sons such honcEed names as
Miltiades, Socrates, Plato. Aristotle.
Pericles, Agesilaos. Themistocles, and
/ the like in baptism. / remember how
| odd it sounded to me when, in my
lodging at Constantinople, had TO
! bawl for Socrates over the banisters,
looking old man-of-all-woTk, with .
| squint in his eye and a hump on his
| back.
OF course, all Greek servants cheat.
lie and steal, fol-. if there ever had been
one who didn't do these things his
| name would hava been preserved. No
| body in the Orient expects any thing
! else of a Greek servant, and the point
is not to give him more chances TO in
| dulge these little foibles than one has
| to or can afford. As wages of servants
| all over the East are excessively low,
| and their earnings consist for the most
partin perquisitcs. Of all kinds, iegiti-
| mate and otherwise, every master Of
household expects to be defrauded and
| hoodwinked by his servants. The
| question turns only on the amount, and
! those servants places where . good
| deal OF money may be pocketed on the
| sly with little fear of detection are
| always eagerly sought after. Brides
form, of course, a very large percentage
of these dishonest gains; but bribery is
considered perfectly reputable for both
parties to the transaction. and brides do
not, therefore, figure in this enumera-
ton of the oriental servants shortcom-
ings. A certain amount of actual pur-
, Joining and embezzling is, however.
also deemed permissible by the Turkish
master, if the servant has not been
otherwise derelict Thus. in making
purchases he may always deduct an en-
| forced commission when rendering his
account, and always does. The same
1 when he receives money from his es,,-
ployer. ft ~
While ALI this is true Of the Greek
| and in less degree Of the Armenian
! servant in Turkish pay. it is not true
of the Turk when wearing the yoke of
! domestic servitude. But real Turks
seldom deign TO accept such chains,
not even the poorest. They prefer TO
| leave the shame and the emoluments Of
| serfdom alike 10 men and women Of
other races than theirs. The conditions
of domestic service in the East Indies
4 bax
through the writings of English novel;
lists and travellers, and they form,
indeed, such complex and difficult
question in themselves rs to by far
transcend the limits of this article.
But domestic service in Persia is a field
hitherto unexplored by writer's. and
some "details about that may not prove
uninteresting to sufferers from that
universal evil-a bad servant @fseH
The Persian word for servant is
''nowker." meaning n man ready TO do
your bidding. A servant Is engaged
for year, at the end of which time his
contract may be renewed or not, at the
masters pleasure. They receive very
small wages (but much higher than
are customary in India). Under wages
(muvadjib) is understood not only the
pay in money, but also clothes and Il
certain amount of food and shelter.
One new suit of clothes is given every
year. and, in the way of rations. y
little rice, some bread and tobacco are
dealt out by the head servant or stew
ard every day, or week, as the case
may be- Service is such steady en-
ployment in Persia that when Persian
has obtained ~ good MASTER. e.. a
pretty liberal one-bs marries. know
ing that he can comfortably support